


Whumptober 2020

by JoeyTaylor



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! - All Media Types, Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime & Manga)
Genre: 17 is ennead canon, 18 and 27 are in same chapter, Accidents, Agony, Anger, Arrested, Betrayal, Broken, Building Collapse, Bullies, Buried Alive, Carrying, Dark, Death, Desert, Drabbles, Drinks, Egypt, Enemy to Caretaker, Exhaustion, Experiments, Family, Fear, Fem!Ryou, Fem!Yami, Forced Mutism, Gen, Genderbend, Grief, Head Injury, Hurt, Hypothermia, Kaiba Corp, Kidnapped, Loss, Meisa, Orichalcos, Ouch, PTSD, Panic Attack, Phobia, Pinned, Possessed, Power Outage, Scarring, Secondary Drowning, Self Sacrifice, Shooting, Silenced, Sobbing, Stolen, Support, Talking, Torture, Trapped, Verbal Humiliation, Walking, Water, Whumptober 2020, adverse reactions, blind, broken arm, burned - Freeform, burning from inside out, caged, car crash, clubbbing, dont want to talk, drugged, earthquake, ennead, ennead based, fem!Bakura, fem!Yugi, friend, hero to enemy, hostage, loose ideas, magical healing, non Ennead canon, operation, post fire, post orichalcos, prisoner, science gone wrong, scientist, specimen Y, stabbed, threatened, tied up, unable to speak
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-03
Updated: 2020-10-20
Packaged: 2021-03-07 19:28:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 30
Words: 14,776
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26782942
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JoeyTaylor/pseuds/JoeyTaylor
Summary: A collection of dabbles and one shot ideas based on the prompts for Whumptober 2020. Mostly set in the Ennead canon but not effecting it.
Kudos: 18
Collections: Whumptober 2020





	1. Let’s Hang Out Some Time

**Author's Note:**

> Whumptober 1st: Let’s Hang Out Some Time  
> (Waking Up Restrained/Shackled/Hanging)

This, unfortunately for Yugi, was not the first time she had awoken in handcuffs with her head ringing like someone had used it as a football.

Thankfully this time her wrists were cuffed behind her back, rather than hanging from a hook, which would leave much less damage, and allowed her to think rather than sending her spiralling into flashbacks of the Hirutani incident.

Regrettably, however, this time she was blindfolded and there was something wrapped tightly around her knees and ankles, preventing her from seeing or moving much at all. Suggesting that whoever had grabbed her wanted to ensure she was not going anywhere.

Trying to squash the rising panic when she realised the chain of the Puzzle was not around her neck, she tried to stay still and listen to her surroundings, but it was eerily silent. Nothing but the sounds of her breathing could be heard at all, suggesting that right now she was all alone.

Taking it as safe to try and free herself, she tried to bring her ankles up to her hands, forcing herself to bend at a painful angle so she could reach the bindings and undo them, more concerned getting access to movement then regaining her sight, at least for now. It hurt, but Yugi managed to wrap her fingers around the rope binding her feet and felt around for the knot, relief sinking in when she found it and her tiny fingers managed to start unpicking it.

She had almost freed her feet when the sounds of a door unlocking made her freeze momentarily then quickly shift her legs back into the position they had been when she had woken, wanting to pretend she was still out cold so her captor did not guard her.

The door squealed open, suggesting that the hinges were old and possibly rusty and footsteps entered the room. Two sets if she was counting right, which meant at least two captors.

“So you weren’t lying.” One, a young man if his voice was any indication, spoke, amused, “You did manage to pick her up.”

“I told you, you assign me a job, I deliver.” A gruffer voice answered, possibly an older man, “You wanted her for bait, you got her.”

The Queen of Games could not help but be surprised. She had expected this to be Puzzle related, rather than anything else. Not that she intended to be here to be used as bait much longer, she just needed to get to her Puzzle and…

“You dropped off the…”

“Her Puzzle was left on the counter, yes. I followed your brief.”

Yugi had to swallow the sharp intake of breath that wanted to escape hearing that. No Puzzle meant no Anesan, no magic and no way of defending herself if she got caught in her escape. It also meant that her most precious treasure was probably safely with someone who would look after it and whoever they were trying to bait would know that she had not come willingly. Those who knew her well enough to be worried if she went missing knew that she would never, ever leave her Puzzle unattended.

The question was, who was she here as a hostage for?

“How long till she wakes?” The younger voice’s impatience was coming through as one set of footsteps started to pace.

“Not sure. She put up one hell of a fight. She didn’t go down until I slammed her head into the wall.” The older snorted.

That explained the headache.

“Does it matter?”

“Yes, no, maybe.” The younger sighed, unamused as the pacing stopped and his footsteps got quieter, “I’ll admit, I’d rather she stayed unconscious. Bakura’s going to be handful enough as it is, without having to deal with two magic users.”

Two. Magic. Users.

Her kidnapper knew about the Shadow magic.

That was both useful information and told the bound Duelist that she was in deep trouble.

And not just because she was trussed up at the mercy of someone who knew about magic and probably had some of their own.

While she trusted Amane, the Ring’s Bearer, with her life, the Spirit that lived within the Ring was an entirely different matter.

Ba-Khu-Ra wanted her dead.

The last time Yugi had been completely incapacitated around the Thief Queen, the demon thief had tried to murder her. If she was still bound when Ba-Khu-Ra was done messing with the fools who had seized the Queen of Games off of the street, her life could possibly be forfeit.

And Yugi had no intention of dying today.

The moment the door shut and she heard the lock click into place, she went back to untying her feet, while rubbing the side of her face against her right shoulder, slowly shifting the blindfold, until it slid down enough to reveal a dark room that was barely as big as her attic conversion, with one window that provided her just enough light to see that night had fallen, suggesting she had already been unconscious for a couple of hours.

Which meant she had very little time before the Thief Queen would come hunting…

Yugi almost felt sorry for the fool who had grabbed her, because Ba-Khu-Ra would not be kind when she got here but she had other things to focus on.

Like getting herself out of here, or at least free enough that should the demon thief get here before she could escape, Ba-Khu-Ra would not see her as an easy target and attempt to kill her a second time.

As the rope came free from her ankles, she let out a relieved breath, forced herself to her feet and headed for the window.

If she could escape out of it, even with her hands bound, the Millennium Ring would bring Ba-Khu-Ra to her and she could warn the Thief Queen that her opponent knew about magic before she walked into his trap.

She just needed to work out how to open it and climb out.

Maybe she needed to work on the rope around her knees first…


	2. In the Hands of the Enemy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> No 2. IN THE HANDS OF THE ENEMY   
> “Pick Who Dies” | Collars | Kidnapped

“Mahad wait!” Bakura put her hands up, showing him she was unarmed as he approached, sword drawn, fury on his face.

“Bakura, you are under arrest in the name of...” The holder of the Millennium Ring scowled, item glowing, prepared for a fight.

“Yes, yes, before you start that, I would like to interrupt for a moment or two.” The Thief Queen and Shadow of the Pharaoh interrupted, “You know my job. You honestly think I would have let you approach without a fight if I hadn't been out looking for the real traitor?”

He hesitated. She had a point. “You have one chance to convince me.”

She smirked and dragged a girl out from behind her horse by a rope attached to the prisoner’s collar, rough sack bag covering her head, hands bound behind her back. If it had not been for the openly female form and pale skin, Mahad would have sworn that, from body shape alone, Bakura had his Pharaoh captive. “Let me introduce you to the little brat who's been causing trouble for our Pharaoh.”

With that she tore the sack off the girl's head, revealing that Bakura had securely gagged her, probably to prevent the girl swearing at or hexing her and Mahad could not help but stare.

She was the Pharaoh. Older and paler, but she was unmistakable.

Except she was not. She could not be. Because their Pharaoh was Egyptian blooded and this girl was clearly a foreigner. “A fake Pharaoh?”

The girl tried to say something through the gag muffling her voice but Bakura's gaze did not leave his as she spoke over her, drowning out the almost identical tones. “You know the rules, Mahad. She's been impersonating the Pharaoh and interfering with the guards. You know the consequences as well as I do.”

Mahad's gaze hardened and he nodded, “Arrest, judgement, death.”

The girl froze, understanding and fear clear in her features as Bakura handed him the end of the rope attached to the loop on the leather collar that normal protected her throat, so he could take her back with him, “Take her in in my place. I'm sure the court will accept her as the traitor easily.”

“Pharaoh will deal with her, I'm sure of it.” He nodded, “But I'm still keeping my eye on you.”

“I'll return with you...well, at a safe distance, as always.” Bakura agreed, silently cheering. Mahad's reaction was exactly what Bakura was betting on. He nodded sharply and tugged on the rope, dragging the girl behind him as she tried to dig her heels in and failed to compensate for his much more superior strength.

Bakura had promised the Runt that when she no longer needed her, Yugi would die. Now the Pharaoh's memories were open for her to explore, the girl had reached the end of her usefulness.

And it was the ultimate in satisfaction to force the Pharaoh, who was trapped in her role and would have to follow the law of the land, to kill her own twin.

It served Yugi right for breaking in to Bakura's Shadow Game, after all.


	3. My Way or the Highway

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> No 3. MY WAY OR THE HIGHWAY (Forced to their Knees)

Egypt’s Princess could not help the pained noise that escaped her as a meaty hand connected with the side of her head, driving her to the floor. The man was twice as tall as her and had the muscles to match.

The smack made her head ring like a gong and made her brother call her name, not that she was entirely sure which one of them cried out as she shakily pushed herself to her hands and knees and glared up at him.

Not that he took her glare seriously. Why would he?

She was twelve, tiny and while she had magic, it could not match the power of his Pyramid of Light.

Everyone here was aware of that as she staggered to her feet, refusing to surrender quietly, even though she knew she had lost.

“Brave. But stupid.” Anubis smirked as one of his men seized the Princess and bound her wrists behind her back before kicking out the back of her legs, forcing her to her knees. “You honestly thought you could fight me? You should have learned by now, little lioness, this isn’t your Egypt anymore. You’re in my world now.”

The hand on the coarse rope binding her wrists forced her to bend, head bowed, to the man daring to call himself Anubis and the sounds of a sword being drawn made her tremble, though she tried her best to suppress it.

Cold metal on the back of her neck caused her to swallow hard.

This was it then.

It was over.

‘Brother, I’m sorry.’


	4. Running out of Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> No 4. RUNNING OUT OF TIME (Caged | Buried Alive | Collapsed Building)

Meisa could not breathe.

The dust in the air was too thick as she tried to maintain the Mirror Force shield that was stopping the rest of the rubble from falling on her and crushing her twin’s fragile mortal frame.

The attack had come from nowhere. One moment they had been at the latest in a string of publicity events that Industrial Illusions had sent them to. The next dragonic creatures she had never seen in her entire life were attacking the surrounding buildings and…

Her spell flickered as the memory of their Jii-san vanishing underneath a rather large chunk of building hit her hard.

 _‘Anesan!’_ Yugi’s cry brought her back to her senses just in time to prevent the rubble slipping between the gaps and fall on her and the four small children they had managed to pull under their shield before they had been trapped.

Not that her light was grieving any less than she was, but right now the children and survival had to be their top priority.

She was certain she could maintain the spell if she could maintain her focus, but the steadily decreasing oxygen levels were beginning to get to her. Her head was beginning to spin and her chest was tightening as each breath included a little less of the life giving air than before.

But they needed to hold on. They needed to keep their spell going.

Because it was not just them at stake. Even if they did not know what they did about the state of the Shadow Seal, there was four small children at risk.

It didn’t matter how much breathing hurt, or their head spun or how tired she was getting.

It didn’t matter that they were now an orphan, not yet.

Not until someone unburied them from their building rubble tomb and set them free.

Meisa just hoped rescue would come soon, because she was not sure how much longer they could hold on.


	5. Where Do You Think You're Going?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> No 5. WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU’RE GOING?   
> Failed Escape | Rescue

“Get back here!”

Yugi had no intention of following orders as she bolted across the school playing field for the nearest tree, fully intending to climb it and get away from the bullies who were pursuing her.

She managed to scramble onto the first branch before the much bigger students caught up to her, but that was not high enough. One of the taller students grabbed her right ankle and yanked hard.

She tried to hold on the next branch up, but the much bigger student’s body weight as yanked using his entire frame caused something in her leg to pop, causing pain to shoot up it.

Shocked, she let go, her cry of agony turning into a yelp of fear as she fell, her back hitting the floor hard, winding her and allowing the huge, thuggish boy to slam his foot into her head, which ricocheted off of the trunk of the tree.

The world spun and darkness nibbled at the edges of her vision as she tried to fight to stay awake, too dazed to resist as the thug’s friend pulled her up by the collar, allowing her first attacker to rip her backpack off.

Once they had it, she was dropped, her right leg buckling under her as her knee gave way at the wrong angle, and the pain from it overwhelmed her.

The last thing she saw was a foot coming her way, then it hit and pain exploded in her head.

And darkness took her.

* * *

When Oneesan woke up, it was dark.

Pitch black dark.

So dark she could not see.

Unnerved by the lack of visual input, she pushed herself sitting despite her pounding head, listening carefully to see if she could hear her attackers.

All that reached her ears, however, was the sounds of rain pouring down from the sky. It explained why she was soaked through and ground beneath her had turned to slop, but she knew instinctively that she needed to get the light out of the rain.

She tried to get to her feet, only for her right leg to give out under her with a fresh burst of pain that caused her to gasp.

Unable to see what was wrong, she felt around the injured limb, only to let out a couple of curses as she felt just how swollen her knee was.

She was not going to be able to walk on it.

She felt around, hands getting covered in mud as she tried to find out if her backpack was still around, hoping that she could use her mobile phone’s light to see what the heck was going on.

Except it was not here. At least not where she could reach it.

The spirit let out a soft huff, knowing that the missing backpack was a good sign that all of their homework, pocket money and phone were gone. They were just lucky that the thugs had not taken the Puzzle too. She suspected that it was because it would be too hard to pawn off without being tracked, rather than they did not want the money the gold in it would bring.

The darker souled sister tried to force herself to her feet again, far too aware that there was no way they were getting out of the rain if she could not, only to start to collapse when her leg gave way again.

Except this time she collapsed into something. Something soft, that sounded worried as it asked, “Oneesan?”

“Jou?” She asked, recognizing the voice, then squeaked as she was scooped up into his arms, not that she was sure how he could see to do it.

She felt the body holding her freeze momentarily. “You can’t tell?”

“I don’t know how you found us in this darkness.” The Pharaoh grumbled, clutching his shirt tightly and resting her head against his chest, needing the grounding now she had lost the feel of the floor below her. Being without it had felt too much like being trapped in the Shadows again for her comfort, but the feel of the fabric between her fingers and the sound of his heart beating reassured her that despite the pain, she was not back in the darkness.

“It’s not dark out. Well not that dark. It’s raining like mad but…” The Pharaoh’s breath came faster as she realized where he was going with it. It was not dark, not to anyone but her.

She quickly flickered through her sister’s memories of what had happened, worrying her lower lip with her teeth as she came to a realization that she hated passionately.

While she had been searching the Puzzle for the true room of her soul, hoping to find something more about her past, her sister had been attacked.

And the injuries she had taken to her head had, most likely, caused this.

“Jou?” Her voice shook ask she curled into him slightly, knowing that they needed him now more then ever, at least until they had recovered from their injuries and hating herself for not being there to prevent this, “We can’t see.”

She could feel his entire frame tense up. She could not blame him.

It was a week until Duelist Kingdom and she could not see.

Which meant she could not compete.

They could not compete.

Ojiisan’s soul and Shizuka’s operation were both relying on a trip that could now, not happen. Not unless her vision came back.

“We’ll manage.” Jou’s tone was rough, but stubborn. “Even if I have to take on all of your wishes too, we’ll still do this.”

As he headed for home with her still in his arms, she just hoped he was correct.


	6. Please...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> No 6. PLEASE….(“Stop, please”)
> 
> An extension of chapter 3

“Stop! Please!”

The words exploded out of the Prince, as he watched Anubis bring his sword down on his sister’s neck.

The brute stopped, just a hair’s breadth from taking off the head of Atem’s Lioness.

“Why should I, Atem?” Anubis asked, smirking at the boy, who was as white as chalk and had stopped trying to resist the men restraining him.

Just as Anubis had planned.

“Your sister attacked me. I have every right to remove a threat.” The mage pointed out, pressing the sharp edge to the back of the forcibly bowed girl’s neck. Though she did not cry out, disappointing the sword’s wielder, she did not need to. The sight of the blood trickling to the floor made the Prince’s legs give out.

“She was trying to protect me. Please, don’t kill her.” Atem begged on his knees, “I’ll do anything.”

“Anything?” Anubis asked, an eyebrow raised.

“Please.”

“You won’t try to escape. Any escape attempt and she’s the one that will pay, understand?” The huge man asked, staring down at the Pharaoh’s heir, pleased to have cowed the boy and lifting his sword. “Her life is in your hands.”

“I…I understand.” The Prince bowed his head, trying to hide his anger and fear.

“Good.” The leader smirked, gesturing to the man holding the lioness in place. She was dragged to her feet, as was the Prince. “Take them both to my tent and bind them to the poles. Separate ones. We have a ritual to prepare for.”

“Ritual?” The lioness tried, trying to hide her trembling.

“Soon, little lion cub,” Anubis used his finger to tilt her face directly up at his, “I’ll control Gods and your father? He won’t stand a chance…”


	7. I've Got You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> No 7. I’VE GOT YOU  
> Support | Carrying | Enemy to Caretaker

“This can’t be!” The huge, black scaled, horned demon snarled out, its dragonic tail flicking back and forth between its legs in its fury. “How? How did you do that?!”

“I’m not letting you control my friend anymore.” The Pharaoh’s twin looked proud of herself as she stood between Ba-Khu-Ra and the demon that had been twisting her for thousands of years, “You lose, you HAVE to release her from the contract!”

“No. No! This won’t be!”

The Thief Queen was suddenly, horribly aware of what the demon was going to do and she darted forward to pull Yugi out of the way.

“If I can’t have her, I’ll take you instead!”

Yugi yelped and took a step back, about to flee, but it was too late. The demon swept forward, turning into dark smoke that seeped into Yugi’s mouth and nose, causing the girl to collapse to the floor, her body writhing and contorting as the divine energy of the god monsters within her tried to burn out the darkness, evoking an agonized scream from their host.

A scream that kept going, and going, and going. Progressively getting weaker in time with the weakening of the teen’s thrashing.

Fear and guilt crashed into the Thief Queen as she realized what was happening.

The God Monsters were going to destroy the demon. That was what they were meant for.

Weakened and exhausted from the Shadow Game that had broken Ba-Khu-Ra free of the demon’s control for the first time in three thousand years, Yugi was just going to be collateral damage unless she could find a way to increase the girl’s strength enough for her to survive the battle raging in her soul.

And she knew just how she could do it.

As Yugi’s voice gave out and she slipped into painful sounding whimpers, she scooped Yugi up, deciding that what happened to her did not matter, as long as she got the girl where she needed to go.

And where she needed to go was the Palace of the Pharaoh in Kemet. The home territory of her adversary and someone who more than likely wanted her dead for everything she had done since this Memory RPG had begun.

“Hang in there, Runt.” She breathed as she bolted for the nearest horses, “I’m getting you to the Pharaoh.”


	8. Into the Unknown

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Technically prompt 15 but this idea hit me hard: 
> 
> No 15. INTO THE UNKNOWN  
> Possession | Science Gone Wrong

“Mutou Yugi, you’re better than this.” Kaiba glowered at his opponent, trying to ignore the way his heart sunk as he beheld the sickly green glow of Yugi’s Solid Vision Disk. 

“What’s the matter Kaiba? Scared?” The reply as Yugi shuffled his deck made Seto narrow his eyes.

The Crystal Cloud system was a genius system. It allowed the minds and cards of Duelists across the globe to connect on an almost instantaneous level. With the Cloud system active, if a Duelist could think of it, they could summon it.

He had proved that when he had called Obelisk back from the afterlife.

Under his control it would usher in a new future, a better, more connected future. 

But he had lost control of the system.

He was still trying to track where the first attack had come from, too many of them had hit at the same time for him to be sure, but with each hit had come the activation of a card he had not seen in years.

The Seal of Orichalcos.

The dark magic had flooded the Crystal Cloud network, ripping control away not only from Kaiba Corp, but the Duelists currently hooked up to the system. Duelists who were now warped into vindictive, twisted versions of themselves as the darkness ramped up all of their nastier, hidden, inner darkness.

He himself was only immune because his own system had been disconnected at the time, while he made a physical update to the Duel Disk’s hard light computer system.

Yugi had not been so lucky.

Which meant that if Seto wanted his help with the magic bullshit, he was going to have to knock Yugi back to his senses. 

That was only going to happen if the security updates he had made to his personal Duel Disk system worked.

He swallowed hard, not wanting to show his nervousness or fear to this version of Yugi. Or any version in fact and activated his Solid Vision Disk, relief hitting hard as he found that segregating his programs from the main network was protecting him from the dark magic that had stolen control of so many others.

At least for now.

“I’ll never be afraid of you, Yugi.” He stated as he drew his opening hand, “Now let’s duel.”


	9. Where Did Everyone Go?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> No 8. WHERE DID EVERYBODY GO?   
> Isolation

She was alone. 

She was alone and it was all her fault. 

Her friends would not even look at her, her sister was gone, stolen away by a magical force more powerful than the Pharaoh…

And the Pharaoh, who feared being alone again more than almost anything, was on her own. 

And it was her own fault. 

She was the one who had ignored how soul sick her light was. The one who had fought with Imoto when the girl had begged her to stop…

The one who had played the Seal of Orichalcos. 

She had no excuse. That she had not been in her right mind had not helped but her actions had been unforgivable and had cost her twin.

Her precious, bright twin who had only been trying to protect the Pharaoh from falling to her pride and who had gotten hurt for it. 

The Pharaoh rubbed the palm of the hand that had impacted with her twin's cheek, shame making it sting like the blow had just happened. 

The only bright spark in this whole mess was that they knew Imoto's soul was alive. If it was not, the body would have died by now. 

But the Pharaoh was horribly aware that the girl could be fed to the dark god of Atlantis at any point and then it would all be over for her.

Not that she deserved to be here. 

Not after she had betrayed her light. 

She had thought she would never, ever, do such a thing, but she had. 

And if she could betray Yugi, she could no longer claim that she would never have betrayed Ba-Khu-Ra. 

She did not want to think about it, because it only made her feel worse, but there was no choice. 

Because she was alone in her head for the first time since she had been freed from the Shadows and if she was not thinking about something, anything, the silence was deafening. 


	10. For The Greater Good

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> No 9. FOR THE GREATER GOOD   
> “Take Me Instead” | “Run!” | Ritual Sacrifice

Yugi was in shock.

Her twin, her other soul, the one person in her life who had never deliberately hurt her…

Had smacked her.

Had smacked her before laying out every reason why Yugi was worthless and not fit to call the Pharaoh ‘Anesan’.

Yugi knew she was weak.

She had ALWAYS known.

She had always known that she was a waste of space who was just lucky that her friends wanted to spend time with her... 

That she was nothing without the others...

But she had never, ever expected her other half to lash out at her for it.

She had only been trying to stop her other self from making a mistake. Stop her from playing a card that could steal a soul away for little more than reasons of pride.

But the Pharaoh had made it clear she thought Yugi was too weak to do what needed to be done before playing the Seal of Orichalcos…

And now Yugi needed to make a decision.

Because she might be weak and worthless, but she had been right. It had been a trap and now her sis… the Pharaoh was about to lose her soul and be sealed away, something Yugi knew terrified the dark spirit of the Puzzle more than anything.

Even with everything the Pharaoh had said… she could not let it happen.

She took a breath and slammed the ancient artifact into the seal, driving every last drop of power she had left into breaking the seal before yanking the Pharaoh out of the seal just in time.

She just hoped the shock of having their soul torn apart made her other self snap back to her senses and duel properly for the safety of those who actually mattered.

And silently she prayed that the words and actions that had hurt her so badly were at least partly influenced by the dark magic currently warping her other self’s soul. 

“It only needs one of us, so I’m letting the seal take me instead.”


	11. They Look So Pretty When They Bleed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> No 10. THEY LOOK SO PRETTY WHEN THEY BLEED   
> Blood Loss | Internal Bleeding | Trail of Blood

As the cruel, uncaring Egyptian sands soaked up the blood flowing from her side, Ba-Khu-Ra tried to force herself to her feet.

She needed to move. 

She needed to get somewhere safe.

Except there was nowhere safe.

The one place in Kemet she had considered safe was gone.

She had not tried to get the Pharaoh assassinated. 

She had not…

_ ‘But what if she doesn’t need you anymore?’ _

As she collapsed back to the dusty floor, her broken right arm unable to take her weight and her head so light she felt like she was floating above her own body, she did not have the strength to tell the voices to shut up, like she had done for years upon years now.

_ ‘Akhenaden’s execution is days away. She doesn’t need you. Did you really think she would keep you around once her reign was secure? That she would keep her word and risk her country for a thief like you?’ _

The thief did not want to listen. She wanted to believe they were wrong, but she could not. There had always been a concern that if the Pharaoh kept her word and freed the people of Kul Elna from the Shadows and sent them to the afterlife, the Millennium Items would be weakened.

And Egypt’s protections could fail.

_ ‘It would be simple to blame you for an assassination and get you killed as a traitor. She’s the Pharaoh after all. Who would question her? You let yourself be played. She used you as a weapon, just like her family used your people for their items. And you fell for it.’ _

The darkness was encroaching on the edge of her vision and her body was going numb.

She was dying…

She did not want to die.

She wanted to get her family out of the hell of Duat and into the afterlife.

The Pharaoh had promised.

Promised that she would help her with that…

But her men, her right hand man, had tried to kill her. In the Pharaoh’s name...

_ ‘I can save you.’ _

A new voice. A male voice. One that was heavy with power…

_ ‘Make a deal with me.’  _ The voice continued,  _ ‘Bind your soul to mine and I can save you and help you kill the one who betrayed you and the people of Kul Elna…’ _

“Wh...what do… you want… from me?” The thief gasped out, too tired and in too much pain to think about the possibility that this was a trap.

_ ‘Nothing much. I just need you to help me recover the power that was stolen from me when the Items were created. Swear to help me regain the power I lost and I’ll save you and help you kill the Pharaoh…’ _

“And… if I…” She trailed off, her head spinning so badly that she closed her eyes, terror sinking in as she realised she did not have the strength to open them again.

_ ‘Then you die here, unburied, unmourned. Your people, your family, never get the afterlife they deserve and the bitch on her throne gets to get away with everything…’ _

Ba-Khu-Ra tried to ask another question, but she could not. Her body just would not respond.

She was out of time.

_ ‘All you have to do is think yes. I can still save you. Let me help you.’ _

She did not want to die.

_ ‘Help me. Please.’ _


	12. Psych 101

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> No 11. PSYCH 101   
> Defiance | Struggling | Crying

“Let me go!”

The demand went unheeded. Instead she was slammed to the ground hard enough to wind her, what felt like a knee pressed down between her shoulder blades and her arms were dragged behind her back. She tried to pull her wrists free but cold metal clicked into place, trapping them. Before she could react, there were hands at her deck holster on her belt and then a man stood, holding her deck.

“Give that back!”

“You’re under arrest.” One of Kaiba’s security force members informed her coldly, ignoring her order as she was dragged to her feet, a green glow in his eyes that she did not like.

“On what charges?!” Ruby eyes glowered at the speaker as an attempt to rip her arms free earned her a sharp tug on the chain connecting her wrists, pulling her backwards into the man behind her, who wrapped an arm around her throat, not tightly enough to choke, but the threat was clear. “I’ve done nothing wrong.”

The man did not answer her. Instead he turned away and pulled a mobile phone from his pocket, dialing someone who answered in what much have been a few rings. “Yes, Kaiba-Sacho. We have her.”

“Kaiba, what the fuck?!” She spat out, hoping she could be heard over the phone.

“No.” The security guard continued as if she had not spoken, “The other one isn’t here… I’ll have my men keep looking.”

She was not the only one they were hauling in…

She thought quickly, trying to work out what she could possibly have done to deserve this treatment and who they could possibly mean, but her mind came up blank. The only thing that could possibly count as ‘dangerous’ was them stopping the giant eye in the sky, destroying it before it could destroy Domino using her summoned Duel Monsters but that had been an act of protecting the city, not threatening it.

She had not even known Kaiba was in the city. Last she had heard, his helicopter had taken off from the roof of Kaiba Corp two days ago and had not come back.

It had not escaped her attention that she had not been read her rights either.

Something was wrong with this whole situation.

“What am I being charged with?!” She demanded again, loudly enough to be heard by those nearby, only for the arm around her throat to shift and suddenly there was a hand over her mouth, muffling her protests as the guard on the phone wheeled around to look at her.

“You’re a danger to Domino and you’re being brought in.” The man snapped at her, “And your little friend, Bakura, will be going in a cell too, shortly.”

She shook her head from side to side, trying to shake the hand loose but it did not work. Since she could not snarl at him that they had the wrong person and she was not a threat with her mouth covered, she settled for glowering at her captors.

She froze as the guard in front of her pulled a gun out from under his jacket, her breathing quickening as she realised that if he pulled the trigger, she would be dead before she could cast a single spell. 

“You are coming to the station with us.” He warned as he pressed the weapon against her throat, “And if you resist, you’re enough of a threat that I have permission to shoot, understand?”

She gulped and nodded, understanding that no matter what was going on, right now she was in serious danger. She would resist and demand answers later.

Right now she needed to stay alive.

“Good girl.” The thug smirked as he pulled back and looked above and over her shoulder, most likely at the man holding her, “Get her in the car. Her cell’s waiting.”


	13. I Think I've Broken Something

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> No 12. I THINK I’VE BROKEN SOMETHING   
> Broken Down | Broken Bones | Broken Trust

_ “Imoto?” _ Oneesan reached for her light, hesitating when the girl flinched back.

“Pharaoh. Don't...” Yugi's voice trembled as she took off her jewellery, her back to the spirit who flinched at the sound of her sister using her title. “I can't...not right now.”

_ “I...” _

“I said don't.” There was a snap in the girl’s tone that made the Pharaoh back up slightly as Yugi reached up and took out her earrings, her hands shaking. “We've only just gotten home. We nearly drowned. I can't...I can't...not now.”

The spirit of the Puzzle hesitated, frightened by the fact her twin had shut the door between their Soul Rooms cutting her off from her thoughts and feelings and now did not want to talk to her.  _ “Imoto please...” _

“Don't call me that.” Yugi's tone made Oneesan stop. “Don't. Not unless you mean it.”

The Pharaoh went silent, realisation beginning to sink in as Yugi stopped, her back to the spirit.

“I can't talk about this now.” The girl finally spoke again, her tone flat and calm despite her twin being certain that there was a flood of emotions that were bubbling away underneath the surface. “Because I want to forgive you and I can't until I've calmed down and if we talk about it I'll have to ask...ask questions I don't know if I can handle the answers to right now.”

_ “I...I'm sorry.” _ The Pharaoh's quiet apology made her light turn to look at her.

“I want to believe you.” Yugi sighed, “I want to believe that you're sorry, but you don't know what to be sorry for, do you?”

_ “What do you...?” _

“You think it's just about you using the Seal. Don't you?” Imoto asked, turning away from her again and kicking off her boots. “That if you apologise for that it makes it all okay?”

Oneesan wanted to but she could not. She had a horrible feeling she knew why Yugi was so angry at her and it was not just to do with the seal.

“I can't talk about it right now. I don't want to. Because I spent what felt like eternity asking myself the same questions over and over and I just...I can't Pharaoh. Not now. Not when I've only just gotten home. Not when...” She shook her head like she could not put it into words. “So please. Don't. Don't ask. Don't...don't call me Imoto...you made it very clear that I'm not worthy of that title.”

_ “It was the Orichelcos...” _

Yugi's entire frame trembled at those words and for a brief moment the spirit of the Puzzle got to feel pure anger from her light, then the girl ripped off the Millennium Puzzle and tossed it onto the bed, ending the conversation.

The Pharaoh stared in disbelief at her twin, who started to undress, her back still turned to her, like she was aware the spirit was still outside the Puzzle. Yugi had never shown anger like that towards her. Nor had she ever cut her off before. Yet she was not sure she could blame the girl. Not after some of the things she had said and done.

She had not been kind while under the influence of the Orichelcos and she had hoped her twin would understand that she had not been in full control of her mind. Imoto's actions, however, made a lie of that hope.

As she watched her sister pull off her top, revealing the recent bruising from their escape and near death in Atlantis and the older scars that painfully reminded Oneesan of just how many times she had failed her light-soulled sister, she realised that what to her had been meaningless lies spoken in the midst of her Orichelcos induced fury at the girl actually meant something to her precious sister and the wounds they had caused ran much deeper than the physical injuries she had suffered.

She needed to apologise. Needed to explain that she had not meant anything she had said but Imoto...Yugi had made it clear that she did not want to talk.

She just had to pray that she would be willing to hear her in the morning.


	14. Breathe In, Breathe Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> No 13. BREATHE IN BREATHE OUT  
> Delayed Drowning | Chemical Pneumonia | Oxygen Mask

Breathing had not been easy since she had come out of the water of the docks, after the Death Duel, her chest had hurt badly, which had led to her coughing, but Yugi had been certain that it was the stress of the whole situation.

The lethargy too could be put down to the fact that she had slept incredibly poorly last night.

Right up until she had thrown up just after she had gotten out of sight of the Ishtars. 

She had hidden it though, just wanting to get home and away from the mess that had been Battle City and she had managed to keep from being sick again until she had made it to the safety of her own home. Then when she was still sick, bringing up everything she had put in her stomach when she had gotten home, it hit her that this could be more than the stress of the murder attempts and destiny stuff.

Checking her own forehead was pointless, she could not test her own temperature after all, so she stumbled down to the living room, where Katsuya and her Jii-san were talking. They paused when she entered the room, the haze in her mind causing her to pause to try and focus on them for a moment before she gasped out…

“Jii-san? I don’t feel so good.”

Her grandfather rushed over and pressed a hand to her forehead, letting out a soft hiss as he realised that not only was she burning up, but her skin was clammy and her breathing was coming in short, gurgling gasps.

“Katsuya, phone for an ambulance!” 

The panic in Jii-san’s tone made Yugi look up at him properly, allowing her to see just how frightened he was. 

Then she needed to sit down, standing becoming too much effort for her and she slumped into the sofa, only to find that lying down stopped her from breathing and caused the pain in her chest to ramp up drastically. 

The Pharaoh seized control when her twin started to slip into unconsciousness, recognising that the pain was overwhelming the girl’s senses and not wanting them to not wake up again. 

“Mei?” She forced her eyes open to find Katsuya watching her with concern as he helped her sit up, “Focus on me, okay? Don’t go to sleep. Just breathe with me.”

She tried to force her breathing to match his, but she could not get enough air to take the same deep breaths. Trying allowed her to stay awake until the ambulance crew got there though, when handed off with her twin, but only because the girl had to take the Puzzle off so they could check her chest.

When the crew heard the liquid sloshing around Yugi’s lungs, they rushed her straight to hospital, cursing out the physician who had checked the girl over when she had come out of the water.

Yugi did not want to tell them there had been no doctor on site when her own best friend had been forced to try and murder her.

She didn’t want to get Katsuya in trouble for the duel, or Kaiba in trouble for not calling a doctor in.

She just wanted to be able to breathe again.


	15. Is Something Burning?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> No 14. IS SOMETHING BURNING?  
> Branding | Heat Exhaustion | Fire

“Youch!”

“Stay still.” The nurse snapped at Yugi as she unwrapped the bandages on the girl’s hands, revealing chain shaped marks that went across her palms. 

Guilt surged through the spirit of the Puzzle as the nurse cleaned the steadily healing burns and her twin tried to hide how much the antiseptic stung. 

The marks looked much better than they had a week ago, but it was beginning to be clear that even when her twin’s hands were fully healed, there would be scarring from where she had clung to the burning hot chain, refusing to let go of the Puzzle and leave her behind.

_ ‘It’s okay, Anesan. I’m just glad you’re safe.’ _ The living half of their soul promised before flinching and getting scolded by the nurse again.

It was not though. Not to Meisa. It was not okay that her twin’s hands were going to eternally be marked by another’s actions. Actions that had been caused because of his hatred of someone else entirely.

It was not okay that chain link shaped marks marred her twin’s neck and hands, and it especially was not okay that some of those marks would be a permanent reminder of just how close the Pharaoh had been to being trapped in the Shadows for eternity when the Puzzle melted from the heat.

And just how close the Pharaoh had come to losing her twin forever.

“There we go.” The nurse huffed as she rewrapped the girl’s hands. “That wasn’t so hard, was it? Maybe next time you can hold still and it’ll save both our time.”

“Sorry.” Meisa wanted to smack the nurse when her twin looked at the floor, her tone shaky as she apologised. 

Imoto was in pain and this witch had done nothing but make snarky comments as she did her job, half convinced the girl was faking it, despite the sheer damage that had been done and how long Yugi had been kept unconscious before the Doctors had thought it safe to wake her.

And Imoto was not the only one who had problems with this particular nurse, who favoured hanging out at the nurses station over actually treating her patients. Nor was she the only one whose confidence was steadily being eroded by the nurse’s words. 

Maybe, just maybe, it was time to play a game.

After all, the cow would be much less likely to lash out at her patients once she understood what they were going through.


	16. A Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> No 16. A TERRIBLE, HORRIBLE, NO GOOD, VERY BAD DAY   
> Forced to Beg | Hallucinations | Shoot the Hostage

When security had alerted him that there was a shooter in Kaiba Corp, he had headed straight for his brother’s office to make sure Mokuba was safe. If he had been, then their floor, which was passcoded, would have been secure and he could have let the police handle it. 

But he had not.

Mokuba’s trembling secretary had informed the CEO that Mokuba had gone down to Virtual Design and Development. 

The same floor the shooter was on.

Seto had rushed down, forced to take the stairs because the elevators locked down in a security crisis, fear crashing into him as the sounds of gunshots had echoed up the stairwell.

He emerged out onto the Virtual Development floor to find the shooter was none other than the former Head of the department, a man he had made redundant three weeks ago. The new Head, a relatively new developer he had picked up during his last trip abroad, was on the floor, blood seeping between her fingers as she tried to cover the wound in her side.

But that was not what held Kaiba’s attention.

The deranged man had his weapon pointed at Mokuba. 

And he had spotted Seto.

“Ah Kaiba-Sacho, it’s good to see you.” The man smirked, still pointing the gun at a slightly trembling Mokuba. “I’m just cleaning house.”

“Let my brother go.” Kaiba glowered at the man.

“Why should I?” The shooter demanded, “You’re going to get me arrested anyway, I want to clean out my work before I go. Having your brother hostage will let me do that.”

“Let him go and I’ll let you leave.”

“Here’s the thing. You won’t. You don’t let anyone go who harms your precious company. You don’t even let your brother off lightly.” The man’s hand was shaking as he snarled out his piece, the new department head getting to her feet shakily behind him, “You ruin them, just like you ruined me.”

“You were drinking on the job. Did you honestly think I’d let you get away with that?”

“You got me blacklisted! I can’t get another job in the industry! They’ve all told me not to bother applying!” The man snarled out, the click of the trigger being pulled back warning Seto that he had very little time. “You’ve ruined my life. Now I’m going to ruin yours.”

The new Department Head body checked the shooter as the gun went off, but Mokuba crumpled to the floor with a shocked, pained cry.

Seto darted forward as three other department members jumped on the man, kicking the gun away from him, not that the CEO cared as he rushed to his brother’s side.

“Se...Seto…” Mokuba gasped out, before coughing hard, blood staining his shirt and trickling from his mouth. 

“Save your strength.” Seto pulled him close, panic flooding through him as he heard someone calling for an ambulance.

“Kaiba-sacho!” The new girl, Ironhide, slid to his side, first aid kit in hand, face paling as she saw the damage. “Let me help.”

The girl was bleeding badly herself, but he could not bring himself to care as she started trying to treat his brother. Instead he drove himself into following through with his own first aid training and helping Ironhide treat his brother.

And though he would not admit it later, as his brother slipped unconscious, he silently prayed to every God he could think of that Mokuba would survive.

Because he did not think he could, if his brother did not.


	17. I Did Not See That Coming

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> No 17. I DID NOT SEE THAT COMING   
> Blackmail | Dirty Secret | Wrongfully Accused

As the guards busted into the den of thieves, Ba-Khu-Ra scowled, wondering which idiot had led the city guards to a Thieves Guild hideout.

She was about to bail out the backway when she caught sight of the differences between the uniforms of city and palace guards. 

These guys were not common soldiers.

She tried to scrabble out of the way, aware that the Pharaoh would be peeved if she got caught, because it meant she would have to find a way to help her Shadow escape, but the men rushed forward, clearly directly going for her. 

“Stop! In the name of the Pharaoh!”

‘Yeah, right.’ She thought as she managed to reach the back door, only to get cut off by the other thieves scrambling out of the building.

Before she could push her way through, a guard grabbed her by her hair and pulled her back, dragging her around painfully, causing her to lose her footing and go tumbling to the floor at their feet.

“You’re under arrest for attempting to assassinate the Pharaoh!”

_ ‘What?!’ _ The confusion from their words cost her precious seconds, causing her to slam to the floor, winding her, rather than roll to her feet like she normally would. 

“You will be returning to the palace to answer for your crimes.” 

As one of the men moved to drag her to her feet, she went to pull her dagger from its sheath, certain this was a trap somehow, only for another of the six men to launch a kick that connected heavily with her jaw, stunning her and sending her dagger tumbling away.

A cudgel slammed into the arm she had been using to draw it.

Pain screamed through her system as the bone in her right arm snapped between the stone floor and the heavy weapon, disorientating her. A second blow, further down the limb caused her to white out momentarily and left the limb completely useless.

The feel of a dagger stabbing into her side brought her back to her senses and made her cry out, a sound that made the guards laugh as they dragged her out into the bright, Egyptian sunlight.

They were going to kill her…

They were going to kill her before she could be dragged back to the palace to answer for the false charges…

Her blood gushed to the floor as anger and upset flooded through her and the magic she had been learning from the Pharaoh erupted out, taking the form of her personal Ka Beast, the greyskinned naga like creature, Diabound.

The arrival of the beast made the men back off and allowed her to bolt down the nearest alley as best she could with agonising pain spreading across her stomach, most likely from where her stomach had been pierced by the guard’s dagger.

Injured as she was, she could not move as fast as she would like, and footsteps behind her were clear as someone grabbed her broken arm and pulled, causing her to scream and nearly fall.

The attacker let go, but frightened out of her mind and reacting rather than thinking, she wheeled around, seized the man’s own sword from his belt and drove it into his stomach, ripping upwards until it would not go any more.

Only then did she realise who had grabbed her.

“Ma...Mahad. Why?” She breathed, gasping for each breath as the pain tried to drag her under.

“You need…” The Pharaoh’s right hand staggered and fell to his hands and knees, coughing up blood as his blood mingled with hers on the desert floor, “You need… to return… to the palace. Pharaoh’s... orders…”

“What?! I didn’t order her death!”

The High Priest, who collapsed the rest of the way with a horrible finality, could not answer and she did not press as she felt his reach out with his magic for something, she did not know what.

And she did not care, her own body was weakening, blood loss beginning to hit hard as she staggered away, letting her Ka beast devour the men Mahad had brought with him as she tried to find somewhere safe, horribly aware that she was dying and there was no physician who could fix her within the bounds of Kemet.

None outside the palace, who, apparently, now wanted her dead...


	18. Who Had Natural Disasters on Their 2020 Bingo Card?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A combination of:
> 
> No 18. PANIC! AT THE DISCO  
> Panic Attacks | Phobias | Paranoia
> 
> No 27. OK, WHO HAD NATURAL DISASTERS ON THEIR 2020 BINGO CARD? Earthquake | Extreme Weather | Power Outage

Earthquakes were not that unusual in Domino. They were an almost daily occurrence somewhere in Japan and Domino was not immune from it. 

Generally they were lucky and they were only hit by a minor shake and they could go back to their daily grind.

Today however…

“Damnit!” Yugi groaned as she tried and failed to shift the beam that had fallen on her when some of the old, heavy wooden basement roof supports had collapsed. She was lucky in a way, losing her balance when the basement floor had violently shaken meant that the beams had fallen on her legs, rather than her head, but the quake had taken out the power, meaning that she could not see what was going on, or just how big the beam pinning her legs to the floor were.

_ ‘Anesan?’ _ She sent down the bond, hoping her twin was close enough to the entrance of the Puzzle to hear her, considering the older twin had recently taken to hunting around the item to try and find her lost memories.

_ ‘Imoto? What’s wrong?’ _ Yugi could not see when the Pharaoh emerged from the Puzzle into the pitch black basement, but she could sense the mental stall that happened when the Spirit of the Puzzle could not see.

“Easy Anesan.” Yugi breathed, “We had a quake, power’s out.”

_ ‘Wh...where are we?’ _ The shakiness of her darker twin’s words made the lighter twin bite her lower lip, fully aware that her twin was afraid of the dark, thanks to the sheer amount of time she had spent trapped in the Shadows.

“Just the basement, I was stock checking and…” She tried to shove the support again, groaning when she could not get enough leverage to move it from the position she was in. “I need your help. I can’t get up.”

The Pharaoh let out a worried noise and Yugi could feel a spectral hand run down her back and legs until it reached the wood pinning her to the floor. There was silence for a moment, then a huff,  _ ‘I can’t move it. If I blast it with Shadows, the rest of the roof might go and our deck is upstairs, so I can’t summon anything.’ _

“Damn.” Yugi breathed, “Can you get upstairs and see if Jii-san’s okay? He can see you, so if you give him the heads up that something’s wrong, he and Jou might be able to help.”

_ ‘Give me a sec.’ _ The Pharaoh took what would have been a deep breath if she had real lungs to breathe with and turned to where she thought the stairs were. Not that she could tell in the pitch darkness of the basement.

It was disconcerting to be walking through the fallen objects as she tried to find the stairs and help her twin, panic beginning to rise as she accidentally walked through a wall and had to backstep quickly to get out of the layers of concrete and steel.

She hated this, she hated this a lot. They were trapped in the dark and there was no way to find the exit easily. She could have passed through the bottom step already and she would never know it.

A violent aftershock shook the ground and there were the sounds of more things crashing to the floor, then pain spiked through her head and left shoulder, causing her to cry out as Imoto’s mind suddenly went silent.

_ ‘Imoto!’ _ She yelped over the bond, wheeling around in the direction she had come, only to get no response. Fear crashed into the dark spirit, recognising the silence from her twin as the girl being unconscious. Whatever had fallen had injured her light and she had no idea how badly.

And she could not see to make her way back to her twin to find out.

She trembled as she realised that she was alone in the dark. The body was hurt and pinned down, meaning she could not use it to actually feel her way around the basement. Her twin was out cold, she was unable to tell where she was and…

And her twin was entirely relying on her to get help.

She forced herself to stop and focus on that fact. 

Imoto had to be what mattered. It did not matter how scared she was. Or how much she just wanted to retreat to the Puzzle to get away from the darkness. Her twin was hurt and if she did not get help, it could be hours before someone found them…

She needed to get out. She needed to get to their family…

The sounds of things tumbling on the floor above her and to her right gave her some clue as to where the stockroom might be. The stairs up led to the stockroom so she headed in that direction, carefully checking the things her feet passed through, completely aware that she never actually touched things. Her ability to sit and stand on things was entirely a matter of perception.

If she knew where things were, she could take them into account when she positioned herself. 

Right now, stumbling around in the dark, her deceased, spectral state was more apparent to her than ever.

Then it hit her.

She was a ghost. She could float.

If she could float, then she could fly. 

And if she could fly, she could pass through the ceiling and get help.

Taking what would have been a deep breath, she forced herself ‘up’, almost grateful for the darkness that hid the world around her as she glanced back over her shoulder before passing through the ceiling.

_ ‘I’ll be back soon, Imoto. Hold on.’ _


	19. Broken Hearts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> No 19. BROKEN HEARTS  
> Grief | Mourning Loved One | Survivor’s Guilt

Yugi was not really paying attention as the plane took off from Cairo Airport.

Though she was able to see out the window, the sight of the pyramids below did not really sink in. Nor did she feel like eating when the air stewardess brought round her meal, despite how empty she felt.

If she had been thinking clearly, she would have recognised her current state as shock but she could not focus properly. Her hand kept going to where the chain of the Puzzle would normally hang, only for the empty air to remind her that it was not here anymore.

It never would be again.

And her twin, the sister she had shared minds with for the last two years, was gone with it.

Her chest felt like it was going to burst, but she was too numb to cry right now. What had been done had been necessary, but she just could not process it properly.

The consequences of her victory had not truely sunk in until the last life point had vanished and though she knew that her victory was right and proper and that by getting her twin to the afterlife she had helped so many more souls that had been trapped in the Shadows reach the life beyond, she felt empty, cold and alone.

An arm around her shoulders startled her and she turned to look at its owner, only to find her grandfather was trying to hug her, understanding written in his features.

He knew. 

Of course he knew.

A dam within her broke at the realisation that someone understood and was not judging her for her grief.

She curled into him as best she could and burst into broken, heart rending sobs as she finally let herself feel the pain that she had been trying to suppress since she had watched her twin sister walk through the Gates of the Afterlife.


	20. I Have a Feeling We're Not in Kansas Anymore...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> No 20. TOTO, I HAVE A FEELING WE’RE NOT IN KANSAS ANYMORE  
> Lost | Field Medicine | Medieval

As Yugi pushed herself to her hands and knees and looked around, she had absolutely no idea where she was.

It looked like she had washed up on some island in the middle of the ocean.

She was not entirely complaining considering the last thing she remembered was being trapped in Atlantis as it was sinking. She was far too aware that she could have been dragged down and drowned. 

But there was no other land in sight, no signs of helicopters and no ships.

She reached out to her… to the spirit of the Puzzle, to find the ancient Pharaoh was still out, suggesting that she had exhausted herself during the final battle with the Leviathan and the darkness that had tried to seize control of the spirit as they made their escape.

Sitting up properly made pain shoot through her back and she allowed herself to let out a whine, since there was no one around who could judge her for it, before she staggered to her feet and pulled her phone out of her pocket, only to find that it was either flat or completely water logged, making it useless either way. 

The sight of fruit hanging off a nearby tree made her stomach rumble, suggesting that her tw… the Pharaoh had not eaten much while she had been gone and she was about to go and grab some when a bright light erupted in the skies behind her. 

She wheeled around, her hand going to her deck holster, only to pause when she saw who and what had caused it. 

“I’m glad you’re safe, little Pharaoh.” The Dark Magician Girl, Mana, was giving her a relieved look. “Don’t worry, my signal should call your friends to you.” 

“Thank you?” Yugi asked, kind of relieved since she was not sure she could Shadow Walk all the way back to shore and glad that one of her favourite cards still wanted to talk to her after everything that had happened and how badly the Pharaoh had, at one point, been treating their deck. “Any idea how long?”

“No clue…”

“Then if you don’t mind, I’m going to grab some of that fruit, I’m starving.” The Queen of Games turned back towards the fruit trees, “You want some?”

“Umm… yes.” Mana sounded amused as she joined the Puzzle Bearer as she headed for the trees, “Thank you.”


	21. I Don't Feel So Well

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> No 21. I DON’T FEEL SO WELL  
> Chronic Pain | Hypothermia | Infection

The scorching hot days were bad, but the freezing nights were so much worse.

By day Ba-Khu-Ra could make her way forward under a cover she had prepared, with the water she had gathered at the only unspoiled well left in Kul Elna after the Pharaoh’s men had finished with the place. She could take layers off and prepare for the heat.

The cold nights however, required stone walls to keep out and fire to stop it spreading to your bones. And she had neither this night. 

With her food supplies waning, she had decided to make the push just a little bit further to try and hit the town she just knew was there, hoping to find food and shelter inside its walls. Instead she had miscalculated badly and had not set up camp well enough.

She knew the fact the shivering had stopped was a bad sign. Her father, the King of Theives, had been careful to make sure that she knew how to survive in case she got separated from him, so she knew all the warning signs.

Like the fact she was getting disorientated. Enough so that she really could not be certain if she had been going in circles for the last ten minutes.

And the lethargy that told her that if she just led down and slept for a little bit, everything would be better and warmer in the morning. It was a lie. She knew it was. If she stopped now, she would not be getting back up.

But what really told the young thief that she was in deep trouble was the warmth that spread through her. The cold no longer seeping into her bones and her body relaxing. 

This was probably it for her then.

When the warmth came, you had to find shelter immediately or…

But she did not have any. Her home, her family, her friends, had all be ripped from her and now…

Well, if she died in the desert, then the palace would have erased all of Kul Elna, just like they had wanted.

She wanted to be angry, the voices that had been whispering to her since her village’s destruction wanted her to be furious, but she was so tired, so dizzy and she just wanted to sleep.

She just did not have the energy to be dizzy when she had to keep pushing herself.

As she reached the top of the next dune, torchlight below, intermingled amongst the stone buildings told her that she had nearly made it.

She could do this. She could.

Even if she got herself arrested so she had warmth and shelter, it would be better than dying out here in the cold with no one left to mourn her.

All she had to do was get there.


	22. Does This Taste Funny to You?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> No 22. DOES THIS TASTE FUNNY TO YOU?  
> Poisoned | Drugged | Withdrawal

Yugi was grinning as she got back to the table where she had left Anzu and Mai. 

When they had first suggested a night out on the town, she had not been too sure about it. She had not long hit twenty-one and she had never been out clubbing before, so when she had come to attend a publicity event in New York, her two best female friends had insisted and it was actually a lot of fun.

She quickly downed her drink, grimacing slightly at the taste, which she thought was a little different, not that she could be sure, since it was her first alcoholic one, and headed out onto the dance floor to join her friends.

Halfway over, she got stopped by a rather cute young man with black hair and green eyes, who seemed intent in engaging her in a conversation, something that was not easy over the loud music that felt like it was pulsing through her louder and louder the longer they were talking. 

She frowned as she lost track of the conversation for the third time and had to put a hand on the table nearest to her, the room spinning a little, wondering if the alcohol had hit her harder than she had anticipated. The boy went to offer her some support and lead her away from the dance floor, only for Mai to sweep in on one side, Anzu on the other, and the two taller girls glowered Yugi’s new friend away and headed for the door.

“Yugi?” Mai asked, her tone concerned as they reached the door and Anzu quickly described the boy that had been talking to Yugi to the security guard, “Did you go back for the drinks?”

“I… I finished the wine you bought me.” Yugi stammered, unable to bring herself to panic but feeling a horrible inertia as her body tried to collapse on her. She fought it, only to find that made the inertia worse. “I don’t…”

She stopped as it hit her. She recognised this sensation. She had been drugged before and a lot of what was wrong with her now had been wrong with her then.

“In my drink?” She asked, closing her eyes against the spinning of the room and wondering if the fact she was not more angry or upset about it was part of the side effects.

“Sorry Yugi.” Anzu bit her lower lip as she rejoined them and they headed for the taxi rank, “Should have told you. The first rule of going out clubbing is ‘never go back for a downed drink’. If you put it down, it’s gone. Get a new drink.”

“I’ll… I’ll try to re…” She slumped into Mai as her legs gave out, “I think I’m gunna pass out.”

“Possibly, but try and stay with us until we get you back to the hotel.” Anzu’s tone wavered, concern clear, “I’m not sure…”

Yugi would not be sure what Anzu’s following words were going to be as she passed out before she could hear them.


	23. Chased By the Past

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> No 23. CHASED BY THE PAST  
> Exhaustion | Alt. 12, Water | Alt. 8, Adverse Reactions 

Yugi used to love swimming classes. She was a fast swimmer and while her classmates loved to horse around in the water, she was not knocked off her feet by their excess and she could swim well enough to escape from any sort of grappling that happened when they were messing around.

Not anymore. One too many incidents of near drowning made it hard for her to enjoy an activity she had once loved. Normally she tried to shove the fear to the back of her mind, not wanting swimming to be ruined for her. It was exhausting, but worth it because it always made her feel better to push past it.

Today however, she did not have the energy. She had not slept properly since the Anubis incident almost a week ago. Nightmares were making it almost impossible to get a full night’s sleep even with her twin’s help. They had been bad enough after Battle City, but now they were worse than ever, thanks to the abuse she had suffered, watching her ancient brother die in front of her eyes and nearly losing all of her friends. 

While she was wearing the Puzzle her twin could share some of her energy and help her stay awake. Taking it off to go swimming meant that she was not getting that energy boost and as she stepped out of the changing room and onto the pool side tiles, the tiredness hit hard, sending the world spinning and causing her to stumble.

She reached out for the wall to save herself from falling and found her tumble interrupted by Anzu, who was watching her with concern. 

“You alright?” The dancer asked, supporting her until she was stable on her feet.

Yugi was not sure how to answer. She did not feel alright, she was unreasonably tired, she felt hot. Extremely hot. Plus she was still worried how she was going to react when she hit the water. Still she did not want her friend to worry so she lied and smiled at her, “I’m fine.”

Anzu’s eyes narrowed at the term ‘fine’, aware that Yugi tended to say she was fine when she really was not, but she did not get a chance to call her out on it before the teacher was demanding that they line up in their swim groups.

Yugi scurried over to the right group, over in the deep end of the pool where she noted that two of the bigger students from the class they shared the pool lessons with had moved into her swim group. She headed down to the other end of the line, remembering how much those particular students had bullied her before she had completed the Puzzle, and once the teacher ordered it, dove into the pool. 

She was relieved to find she was able to push past the initial shock to her mind and system as she started her swim and the cold of the pool actually woke her up a little. She managed a few lengths of the lane she had dove into, trying to ignore the teacher’s frustration with how slow she was swimming compared to normal, before she had to cling to the side and wait out another wave of dizziness. 

“Move, Mutou.” She had almost no warning before she was barged by one of the two much bigger students, making her lose her grip on the side with a yelp and sink into the water.

She let herself sink to the bottom and then pushed herself back to the surface, breaking the surface to find that the two boys were clinging to the side she had been trying to recover on.

With a frustrated huff, she turned to start for the other end, wanting to rest at the other end, only for a hand to wrap around her left ankle and yank back and down.

The shock of being dragged under by her ankle sent her mind spiralling into flashbacks of getting dragged into the ocean during the Death Duel and being shoved into the waters of the oasis by Anubis and his men while bound tightly as a punishment for trying to escape. 

She thrashed, trying to break free, terror coursing through her as she tried to get to the surface, unable to comprehend what was going on around her clearly.

Too caught up in her own painful memories, she missed the pained noise from one of the boys as her foot impacted with his crotch, but she did not miss the fact her ankle was freed and she shot for the surface and bolted for the other end of the pool. 

She had scrambled halfway onto the side when the teacher started yelling, but she was too far gone to hear them and she bolted for the nearest escape, which happened to be the male changing room.

Once away from the water she curled up in a ball, shuddering as the memories crashed through her mind. It was not until someone shook her gently, calling her name, that she had something else to focus on.

She looked up to find Katsuya knelt by her side, while Honda guarded the door, worry clear on both their faces. 

“Yuge?”

She opened her mouth, closed it again then wrapped her arms around him and sobbed, trembling badly as relief crashed through her that she was here, in her school with her friends, and not back in any of the seven hundred awful situations she had been trapped in over the last year and a half. 

“I’ve got you Yuge.” Katsuya promised, glancing at Honda, whose eyes narrowed as he nodded, agreeing to find out exactly what had set their friend off, before heading back into the pool, “Don’t worry, I’ve got you.”


	24. I Think I Need a Doctor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> No 29. I THINK I NEED A DOCTOR  
> Intubation | Emergency Room | Reluctant Bedrest

“I’m sorry, Mutou-San, but there’s nothing we can do to fix it. Either it comes out or she’ll be on life support for the rest of her life.”

Mutou Sugoroku could not believe what he was hearing. When Honda had explained that, from what he had been able to see, someone had tried to strangle his granddaughter and that she had been struggling to breathe when the ambulance had rushed her away, he had thought it was just bruising and that his granddaughter would be okay after a few weeks rest.

He had not expected her larynx to have been crushed and irreparable. 

As he stared at the doctor, trying to process what he was being told, he had a decision to make.

Either he could give the doctors permission to take out the injured voice box, meaning that Yugi would no longer have a voice. At least not for months or worse. She would have to learn to speak all over again once her throat had recovered from the laryngectomy.

Or he could refuse the operation and leave Yugi on life support until she recovered enough to wake up, hoping that Yugi could heal her own injuries once she came around using her magic.

“Honestly Mutou-san, it doesn’t look good. If we can’t operate, she might not last another couple of days…”

He could not lose her.

He couldn’t.

“Do whatever you need to do to save her.” 

As the doctor nodded and scurried back to the operating room to pass on the permissions, he could not help but feel like he had just made a decision that his granddaughter would hate him for, forever.


	25. You're Not Making Any Sense

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> No 24. YOU’RE NOT MAKING ANY SENSE  
> Forced Mutism | Blindfolded | Sensory Deprivation

“Right Yuge?”

Silence met the question for an uncomfortably long time. Katsuya flinched as he turned to his friend, to find her looking at him with a whole new level of frustration, the stoma in her throat reminding him that she could not reply. Not to him or to anyone else. 

At least not yet. The therapist had promised that with time, she would be able to, but right now his best friend had no way of talking. Not with the laryngectomy she had gone through thanks to the bitch who had tried to kill her. 

“I’m sorry, Yuge.” He apologised sheepishly. “I forgot.”

The girl’s shoulders sank and she just waved it off.

She could not be too mad at Katsuya, it was not his fault. She knew whose fault it was. The Ring Bearer had not been in school for her to send notes to regarding the culprit who lived within the Millennium Ring and her grandfather had been the one to okay the surgery.

She had tried to heal herself using magic once she had been released from hospital but the power had not been able to replace the larynx that had been taken out. There had been nothing for it to heal either. So she was stuck like this. 

At least until she learned to talk all over again.

She just had to have patience.

At least until then, she had her twin she could talk to.


	26. Edge of the World

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> No 25. EDGE OF THE WORLD  
> Alt 2. Falling | Alt 11. Presumed Dead

Sacred Guardian Seth could not believe what he had seen.

His Pharaoh was missing.

She had chased after the Thief, Ba-Khu-Ra, and used her own Ka Beasts and body as a shield to protect Kemet, leaving her badly injured by the time she had finally caught up with the threat.

And the Demon Thief’s Ka Beast had destroyed the cliff edge his Pharaoh’s horse had been stood on, sending steed and rider tumbling into the darkness below.

They had searched the base of the cliff as best they could that night and found the body of the horse, but even in daylight they had not managed to locate their leader.

There were those in the palace who believed that she was dead and her body had been dragged off by jackels. 

Seth could not bring himself to believe it though. She was too strong and to stubborn to die like this.

She had to be out there somewhere.

He just did not know where.


	27. If You Thought the Head Trauma Was Bad...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> No 26. IF YOU THOUGHT THE HEAD TRAUMA WAS BAD…  
> Migraine | Concussion | Blindness
> 
> (Continuation of 5)

Yugi trembled slightly as she ran her hand along the wall of her apartment, still trying to get used to not being able to see her way around.

The sounds of a bell by her feet warned her that her cat was somewhere around and prevented her from tripping over the feline. Stepping around the cat, however put her foot firmly on something that slid out from under her foot, causing her to let out a yelp as she lost her balance and hit the floor. 

A soft sob escaped her as she picked herself up, ignoring the pain in her rear. They were four days from Duelist Kingdom and she had not recovered from the injuries the bullies had inflicted on her, including the migraine headache and blindness caused by them slamming her head against a tree repeatedly.

Without her sight she could not duel. She was still waiting for a message back about whether Jonouchi could duel in her place, but in the meantime she needed to function on her own because her friend had a second job to attend and her grandfather was not here.

She kind of wished that she could communicate with the Spirit of the Puzzle properly. If they could talk to each other and share information outside of letters, then Anesan could have been her eyes.

She just hoped she would recover soon, or hear back from Industrial Illusions.


	28. Such Wow. Many Normal. Very Oops.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> No 28. SUCH WOW. MANY NORMAL. VERY OOPS.  
> Accidents | Hunting Season | Mugged

Katsuya was halfway across the road before he realised Yugi was not with them. He paused and looked back to find his friend was ogling a huge Dark Magician plushie in the toy shop next to the crossing.

“Hey, Yuge, come on, we’re gunna be late.” He chuckled, starting to turn to rejoin the others as Yugi darted into the road, only to pause at the sounds of squealing brakes as a car shot through the red light.

The Queen of Games did not have a chance to dodge or cast any spell to protect herself, before the car slammed into her, the bonnet colliding with the girl at almost thirty miles an hour, sending her flying, and carried on another five meters down the road, where it came to a dead stop. 

Katsuya did not care. He bolted down the road to where his friend had landed, unable to believe what had just happened, Honda and Anzu in hot pursuit.

Yugi’s eyes had gone red by the time he had reached her. He slid to her side and started checking her over as Anzu rang for an ambulance and Honda went to confront the driver. 

“K...Katsuya…” Whatever she was about to say got cut off by an agonised cry as she tried to sit up and everything in her body objected painfully.

“Don’t move. You got hit by a car.” He put his hand on her shoulder and pushed her back down, taking his jacket off and putting it under her head to give her some support there.

“S...Seriously?”

“Yeah, I know. Far too normal for our usual shit, right?”

The laugh that escaped the Pharaoh at that caused her to let out a pained whine and gasp for breathe. “Oh fuck ow…”

“Don’t you wory.” Katsuya tried to reassure her as sirens sounded in the background and the car that had hit his friend tried to drive away, only to get blocked in by three other drivers, “We’ll get you healed up.”

“Ka...Katsuya… they’re going…to need… me to... take the Puzzle...off...” Meisa panted out, the wheezing in her breathing worrying her friend greatly. “I’m tr...trusting you… look after her…”

“I’ll look after you too. I promise.” 


	29. Now Where Did That Come From?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> No 30. NOW WHERE DID THAT COME FROM?  
> Wound Reveal | Ignoring an Injury | Internal Organ Injury

“Good night Yuge.” Katsuya was relieved when his best friend shut her bedroom door and left him to head for his own room.

He let out the hiss he had been holding in and staggered back to his room before taking off the black jacket he had been wearing, revealing the inside was ruined and the blue and white t-shirt beneath was now stained with a huge red splotch where it was not torn from the blade that had drove into his side when he had gotten between his friend and the guy who had been attacking her from behind..

He peeled the t-shirt up, cussing violently as he found the blood had stuck it down to his skin and pulling it up hurt like mad. He scrambled to grab the towel that had been on his floor as the action started the blood flowing again from the wound he had taken to protect his friends and tried to staunch it. The white towel swiftly turned red, causing him to realise that he might need more treatment then he had anticipated.

“Ka...Katsuya?” His head snapped up and he groaned as he realised he had not shut the door properly, allowing his friend to see into his room.

“Yuge? I thought…” He grimaced as she stepped into the room and rushed over, kneeling at his side, “You were going to bed.”

“Heard you swearing.” She shook her head and shifted the towel, her face paling as she took in the injury, “When…?”

“That prick that tried to jump you from behind? He had a knife.” Katsuya sighed, having tried to hide the wound from his friend to stop her from worrying.

“Give me a moment.” Yugi pressed the towel back to her friend’s side and hurried off. When she came back, it was with a bottle of soda which she held in one hand as she quickly opened her deck holster and slipped out a couple of spell cards, her Millennium Puzzle glowing as she tapped into the magic.

“I activate Emergency Provisions.” She whispered as she discarded three cards from her hand. Katsuya watched, fascinated, as energy drained from the card, into the drink. Then Yugi shoved it in his hand, “It’ll sting but it will help.”

“Thanks Yuge.” He chugged down the soda and winced as the magic started its work, painfully rearranging the damaged skin and internals into a position where it could knit back together and heal up.

“Sorry.” He glanced at his friend to find her staring at the floor.

“Don’t apologize, it’s helping so I can deal.” 

“Not for… well for that too, but sorry that you got stabbed.” 

Katsuya paused, then put his hand on her shoulder. Normally he would have pulled her into a hug, but he did not want her getting covered in blood. When she looked up at him, he gave her a watery smile. “Hey. I’m the one who jumped in the way.”

“Yeah but…”

“It’s not your fault, Yuge. We got jumped. It happens.” He shrugged, “Just do me a favour?”

“Wh...What’s that?” 

“Next time you want to go to some obscure, out of the way game shop, we get the bus, okay?”

Yugi let out a slightly shocked laugh and nodded, “Sure, no problem.”


	30. Today's Special: Torture

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> No 31. TODAY’S SPECIAL: TORTURE  
> Experiment | Whipped | Left for Dead

“Test 137. Specimen Y showed a violent magical reaction to electricity. Same reaction as last four tests. Specimen Y showed less lucidity when she was brought in. Will suggest a break as the less lucid she is, the more violent the reaction her abilities have.” The scientist murmured into his microphone as he made written and verbal notes while he kept an eye on the holding cell camera, where the guards were tossing an unconscious girl into the cell. “Weight has decreased dramatically. Possibly ensure that she actually eats this evening.”

“Make note, before the next test to ensure more fire extinguishers are available.” He continued as Specimen Y lay still on the floor as the guards slammed the door shut. The sixteen year old Japanese female, who was dressed in a dirty shift that used to be white, was a fascinating study. “One of the ‘spirits’ that Specimen Y can call, can throw fire. Request three more guards to replace the ones who got burned up.” 

Doctor Yamabuki had been dismissive to start with when he had been brought in to replace his predecessor, Doctor Hoshigawa, right up until he had seen the video of what had happened to him. After that he had been full of wonder about what they could possibly do if they could just understand how Specimen Y’s powers worked. Today was just another example of how dangerous Specimen Y was when she was not properly dosed before she was brought for the tests.

He considered the girl on the cameras. He supposed he should feel sorry for her. After all, if he was reading her files right, she had been grabbed from her home and loving family. However he could not. There had been members of his family caught up in the attack on Domino City. The same attack Specimen Y had been caught up in.

If they could work out how Specimen Y had used her magic and driven off the attackers, they could give it to others and maybe, just maybe more people would not need to die.

Yes, it was cruel on Specimen Y, but if his research could be used to prevent such an attack from happening ever again?

It would be worth it.


End file.
